timekeep
by lala-licious
Summary: When the sound of the clock-hand stops, the world is going to end. Miranda, Noise, Tyki.


-man (c) Katsura Hoshino; _Italics_ - phrases of lyrics to Megurine Luka's _Leia_.

* * *

><p><strong>time keep<strong>

* * *

><p>––Prologue; <em>I'll paint on the canvas of lies today again_

The day a life was given –

"T-This child –"

'It' extinguished – no, _absorbed_ – another life.

"…is a jinx."

This was the way Miranda Lotto lived her life: as a cursed jinx. (_Like the _akumas)

––

The day his world turns into an abyss –

"Oh baby –hic– I'm so –hic– sorr –"

He discovers – no, _sees_ – other means of illuminating this chasm. (_God was the first light he sees_)

(His mother sobs.)

This was the way Marie Noise lived his life: searching for light. (_God is, Miranda is, __slaying_Akumas_ for God is_)

––

The day a Noah was reincarnated –

"Hello~"

He threw, tossed, _rejected_ the notion of God.

"We are your family now." ("You need _only_ us.")

This was the way Tyki Mikk lived his life: finding pleasure in the morbid.

* * *

><p>––One; <em>Endless illusion<em>

In the midst of battle, time freezes. She will always remain physically untouched. Bruises that should blossom on porcelain skin will disappear; dislocated limbs will relocate themselves, as if the fracture had never occurred. This is her _ability_ – Time. Miranda is the _time-keeper_; the one that sits between the realm of heaven and Earth, _lonely and alone_ (because she is unlucky, because she is cursed, because she is a jinx), working the clocks and watches and timepieces.

The people in her charge; in her sphere of paused time, will remain untouched. That is to be expected – Miranda is the adult here; she is their _guardian_. As long as they are in the realm where she can cover, she rejects any physical harm to her family (even if they are lured away by the devil's henchmen, she will have the _akuma_ regret its actions).

––

In the midst of battle, recklessness ensues. He can lull _akumas_ with floaty lullabies to sleep (eternal, endless sleep). He can tug at their heartstrings with passionate, heartrending arias of love lost and justice ungranted. He can tear the misguided souls asunder with painful, piercing screeches and shrieks of the violin.

Here, in this timeless _void_, Noise can be as cruel, as sanguinary as he wishes to be. He has no eyes, and is entirely reliant on his other senses. So his killings may be excessive (the scent of blood too thick and dense in the air, the infuriated cries too loud and piercing with anger and hatred), but these overkills give him assurance and confidence that the _akumas are released_.

Devoted as Noise is in his service, he is not merciful.

––

In the midst of battle, thirst builds. Pain escalates with tortured screams – rising higher still in volume. They are caught halfway in, halfway out of _her_ protective barrier. The Tease kept munching on the never-ending feast laid out: a live, beating heart that recovers no matter how much it is chewed on. Tyki often finds pleasure in morbidity, but _now_, he is not interested in the gore and cannibalism displayed; so indifferently, the Noah abandons his Tease and its victim alone, fully immersing himself into his fair lady's timeless barrier.

Into the sphere it is.

Noah's blood is calling – no, _singing_ – to him. _A tasty prey_, it hummed. _A pretty prey_, the Noah's hum got louder. _A worthwhile prey; a __pleasurable__ prey!_ His blood roars in his ears and makes his fingers twitch. Lips quirk into a predatory smirk, and the Noah picked up speed (_the centre of the carnage_).

* * *

><p>––Two; <em>Eternity slightly stopped its breath<em>

Red and black. Black and red. Miranda lifted her head skywards. The blue was calming; a sharp contrast to the very Erath she stands on. All too easily, her serene sky was blotted. _Akumas_ and their distorted bodies. Hammers and Lavi. Boots and Lenalee. Sparks of metal and heat forced Miranda to shift her eyes.

_Thank the Gods the Noah clan aren't her_, she thinks.

––

Silence. Amidst the sounds of carnage and devastation, Noise hears silence in the heart of the battle. The heart: where Miranda is, a disadvantageous position for an inoffensive weapon user such as her, but advantageous in that she could reach out more extensively.

The heart should be where noise is concentrated at. But no –

Instinct reacts; their 'heart' –

––

The ring of steel; or more specifically, the ring of chiming Innocence against impenetrable Noah skin resounds, bringing their fair lady to her knees, both hands cupping her ears.

Both knew that she is weak, yet strong; a contradiction in an about her character. Thus they kept their aggressive stances, even as they spring apart from their earlier confrontation.

"Why, hello Miranda _dear_," Tyki purrs.

* * *

><p>––Three; <em>And left me to go to despair<em>

Eyes widen as hands fall from still-ringing ears. Through the reverberation of sharp tinkling bells and chimes (masking the ring of steel and _malice_), Miranda hears her name. She stands up on trembling legs (_why is standing strenuous?_). "_…Noah_," the brunette whispers, in detached reverence and apprehension.

Her hands were shaking. Her blood was chilled. Then –

(A gasp of alarm)

––

Blind eyes widen as heart rate speeds up erratically. Noise is at an impasse: to save, and risk vulnerability; or to duty, and risk death. All the while, the Noah of Pleasure remained amusedly unconcerned (_that __bastard__!_).

Scrunching up his face – in anger and in frustration, he dashed away duty (for Miranda Lotto – their underrated defence, their lovable lady, their _heart_). Come what may, be it death or hell, Noise is already ankle-deep in agonising torment. (The waters rise higher; _drown me please_.)

Numb.

The Exorcist feels empty numbness. Already, the wounds and bruises are starting to creep up on previously untarnished skin. Her barrier…

––

Eyes dimmed (_disgust, repulsion, abhorrence_) as the pretence of pleasure and delight fell away. Just for a moment; just when their backs are turned to him, Tyki allowed his sorrow to surface. His fair lady: dying.

Noah had taken over. (_Excuses! A trip of your control; that's what made __you__ kill her._) Noah had hated Exorcists and the wretched Innocence. (_Excuses! Noah __loved__ his prey, too much, too much, that __you__ killed her._)

A struggle of self shown only by the twitch of fingers and calm anger: _Who am I?_

Noah, Vagabond. Heartless murderer, carefree philanderer. Black, White – their shade of grey: Miss Miranda Lotto.

* * *

><p>––Four; <em>When the sound of the clock-hand stops, the world is going to end<em>

She drew her final breath when the bells of the clock-tower sounded.

While her surroundings were engulfed in an angry red, she drowned in a sea of black. (_Empty, empty, empty…_)


End file.
